


The Green-Eyed Tattoo

by TheUnderground15



Series: The Green-Eyed Tattoo [1]
Category: Shingeki no Kyojin | Attack on Titan
Genre: Age Difference, Angst, Boyfriends, Crying!Levi, Depressed!Levi, M/M, One Shot, Sad, Tattoo, Tattooed!Levi, Tattooer!Hanji, angsty, car crash, dead!Eren, older!levi, one - Freeform, sad!Levi, tattooing, upset!levi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-07-26
Updated: 2018-07-26
Packaged: 2019-06-16 12:57:48
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,180
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15437541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheUnderground15/pseuds/TheUnderground15
Summary: It's been a year since Eren has passed away and it's time that Levi gets a portrait tattoo of his late boyfriend. (Long One-Shot, possibly could become a series!)





	The Green-Eyed Tattoo

**Author's Note:**

> Heya! I hope you enjoy this one-shot! I haven't written in a while so bare with me! If theres any mistakes, please comment down below and I'll fix them ASAP. <3

Levi walked into the tattoo parlor, Sonny & Bean Tattoos, holding in his hand two pictures he had printed off at home. The male had been waiting anxiously for his tattoo appointment with his friend, Hanji. She was a mad woman but he couldn’t deny that her tattooing skills were superb and she was the best artist in the area. Hanji sat at the front desk, tapping away at the computer before looking up at the door when a bell sounded. Her face lit up right away and she grinned widely.

“Hey there short-stuff!” She cried out happily, jumping up from her chair so she could lean over the wooden desk and rest her elbows on the top of it, resting her head in her hands. Levi rolled his eyes but he let himself smirk a bit.

“Hey there four-eyes.” He walked up to the desk and he put the pages down on the desk in front of her. “How’s your day been so far?”

“Oh, you know, a walk-in here and there.” Hanji waved her hand a bit, her long nails now painted a dark red colour and her tattoos exposed from her tank top. Hanji had more tattoos than Levi and many people were shocked by that since Levi himself is fairly tatted. “Oo! Is this what we are doing today?” She said with an even wider grin, moving her glasses down from her forehead to her nose so she could see properly. She was expecting this day to come.

Levi nodded politely while Hanji spoke and when she started to look at the pages he bit his lip softly. This would be one of the most emotional tattoo experiences for him and he knew he could trust Hanji with it but he wanted to have this tattoo be nothing short of perfect. 

“Yeah, I’d like to go full colour with this tattoo. That is, if you can match every colour.” Levi said, the male leaning against the desk as well now so he could look down at the pages as well, his bangs getting in the way a bit so he brushed them away with his fingers. 

Hanji hummed, understanding right away the nervousness Levi was feeling. “Of course! Colour tattoos are my specialty.” She patted Levi’s head playfully before she walked from the edge of the desk and moved to the printer to make a scan of the pictures. “Where were you thinking of getting it done?”

Levi took off his leather jacket and he exposed his heavily tattooed arms. “I wanted to either get it done on my inner arm or on my calf” he lifted the already rolled jeans up and exposed the back of his calf where there was more space. 

Hanji looked over the empty spaces to tattoo. “Tattooing your calf will give me more space to get more details… It’s up to you though pip ‘squeak.” Levi shot her a glare that normally would scare someone else but Hanji just continued to grin.

“Calf it is.” He rolled his pant leg down again and he sighed softly, watching as Hanji walked over to the light table for the artists. He sat down on the leather couch just a few feet away and he let his eyes wander the tattoo parlor that he’s visited many times before. 

Paintings were hanging on the light blue walls and there were some shelves where they sold some store merchandise and some hair dye. There was a display case with many different types of piercings that were for sale and Petra sat behind it quietly on her phone as she waited for her piercing appointment to come in. Levi’s eyes shifted to the large wall that was covered in stencils of tattoos that are already stenciled and ready to go for a small price. Hanji liked to call it the “small banger wall” since the tattoos would take half an hour to an hour to complete. Levi found himself rolling his eyes again at the thought that Hanji would say those words to a customer but he also caught himself thinking fondly of her goofiness. She was always a breath of fresh air in his life and he was sure he wouldn’t be standing here if it wasn’t for her optimistic attitude and strong personality. 

“Hey Levi, would you like something to drink while you wait?” Petra asked from where she was sitting, noticing that Levi was just starring around the parlor and Hanji would take another twenty minutes or so to complete the stencil. 

“Sure.” Levi replied and Petra nodded, knowing right away what he would like. A few minutes later, she walked over to with a warm cup of Earl Grey tea in a white mug with the stores logo on the front. Levi thanked her and she nodded her head kindly before going back to her seat. 

Hanji finished creating her stencil and she stood up from the chair before walking over to Levi. She had him lift his pant leg and she sized where the tattoo should go before printing out a good copy of the stencil. “Alright shorty, come with me!” She waved for him to follower her to one of the tattooing tables. Levi followed behind her and she wiped the padded table down again before laying a disposable sheet down where Levi’s leg would lay and then she laid a soft pillow where his chest would be to give him a more comfortable position. 

“Alright, drop the pants buddy.” She chuckled as she spoke and took a pair of black disposable gloves out of a box on the desk with all of her tattooing supplies. Levi took off his pants and laid them on one of the guest chairs before he got up on the table, laying on his stomach and wrapping his arms around the pillow that was laid out for him.

Hanji laid out a paper towel and then got out the small ink pots. She shook the bottles of tattoo ink a bit before carefully putting the ink inside of the pots till it reached the brim. She looked back at the reference photo she had a few times as she made her colour choices. Next, she laid the tattoo needles out and then put some ointment on the paper towel for her to use throughout the tattoo. Levi watched as she sat down on her stool and wheeled closer to levi with a razor in her hand. She shaved the area clean of hair and then sprayed some solution on his skin before carefully laying the stencil down.

“Go check the placement and see if it’s where you’d like it to go.” Levi stood up from the table and walked over to the long mirror. He turned so he could see the placement and the violet stencil was laid down perfectly between his other tattoos and it filled the area as if it was meant to be there. 

“It’s great.” Levi said in a soft and audibly pleasant voice. He was very happy with how this was going so far.

“Goodie! Let’s get started then!” Hanji clapped her hands excitedly and she picked up her machine as Levi laid back down for her. “Now, it’s going to hurt when I put it in~” Hanji teased and Levi groaned out, making her laugh and some of the other artists there laugh as well.

Hanji was still chuckling a bit as she fitted the needle into the machine and then dipped the end of the fine needle and machine into the black ink pot. When she started to tattoo his skin, Levi could feel the familiar burning sensation of the needle pushing into his skin and he just closed his eyes. The male could take the feeling of getting the tattoo but a few hours later he turns into a cry baby.

Hanji took her time lining the tattoo, wanting to make sure she marked each line perfectly. She pulled long lines perfectly, not a single wobbly line or mistake in her movements. Every so often she would wipe away the extra ink pooling on his pale skin and she would rub a bit of ointment on the tattooed skin to keep swelling down. They were on hour three when she finished the shading and they now had to start the colour in the tattoo. The sun had set and some of the artists at the shop had left already, commenting on how amazing the tattoo was turning out. Hanji changed her needle to magnum shading needles for the colour while Levi ate a granola bar that Petra had given him. The male was already feeling the pain from shading but he knew that the colour would be even worse.

“How’s it going little buddy?” Hanji asked him with a sad smile, looking down at him as he panted a bit. Since Hanji had been tattooing Levi for quite a few years now, she could tell when he was reaching his pain threshold and needed a break.

Levi swallowed the food in his mouth before looking over his shoulder. “I’m doing fine, it just burns like a motherfucker.” He grunted out a bit. Even when she wasn’t tattooing he could feel the needle.   
Hanji hummed softly, nodding her head a bit. “Like usual, if its getting to be too much you can tell me to stop and we will break for a few seconds or move onto a less sensitive area.” 

Levi nodded with understanding and he buried his face into the pillow, letting out a sigh when he felt her start to tattoo again. About ten minutes later the bell for the door sounded and in walked a large blonde male. “Hello Erwin!” Petra said cheerfully, grinning at the male. 

“Hello Petra, how’re you this evening?” Erwin asked with a kind smile in return, the male setting down a paper bag on a desk as he took off his jacket and hung it on the coat rack.

“I’m just swell.” Petra responded and she talked with Erwin for a bit before he walked over to where Hanji and Levi were. The blonde carried the paper bag with him before setting it on a guest chair and looking over at the tattoo.

“Hanji, this is amazing. It looks just like him” Erwin said with shock, always amazed by how perfect his dear friends’ art was always getting better even when he thought it was perfect. Levi felt his chest ache a bit since he couldn’t see the tattoo but also because he was so happy with what he was hearing from his most trusted friend. Erwin walked back over and he took a burger out of the bag, handing the wrapped food to Levi. “One gross burger, as requested.” He teased.

Levi reached out and took the burger in his hands, unwrapping it while glaring playfully at Erwin. “Not as gross as what ever that monstrosity is!” he declared, defending his burger. Erwin gasped out, resting one hand on his chest.

“L-Levi! How could you be so cruel?!” Levi rolled his eyes and he flipped off his friend while looking away at the wall. 

They ate and talked with each other for twenty minutes before Levi started to whine a bit and grunt, his body shifting a bit on the table. He was reaching his level of pain he could endure and it was visible by his movements and the flexing of his muscles under his shirt. Hanji looked up at Erwin as she stopped tattooing to wipe at Levi’s skin. Her eyes met Erwin’s with obvious concern and she motioned with her eyes for Erwin to get closer to Levi. Erwin nodded a bit and he reached over to Levi, holding one of the male’s smaller hands in his and his other hand started to pet his head lightly. Levi had been crying silently into the pillow case, gasping for air but the second Erwin’s hands were on him he started to sob loudly, his shoulders shaking.

“Shhh… it’s okay Levi…” Erwin whispered to him in a calming voice, his fingers gently scratching at his scalp. Hanji continued to focus on the tattoo, wanting to complete it as fast as she could for her friend. Levi’s shoulders continued to shake and moved his face so he was facing the right and could breathe better. His pale face was going red and it was covered with tears, his hand gripping the pillow and Erwin’s hand so hard that his knuckles were going white.

“I-I miss him Erwin… I miss him so much…” Levi sobbed out, his eyes blinking out more tears as he took a deep breath of air. Erwin’s lips were pressed together tightly as he let out a small sigh and he squeezed Levi’s hand. 

“We all miss him Levi, but he’s always here with us. No matter what, he is here with us in our hearts.” Erwin was doing his best to comfort Levi and the small male let out another sob, this one deep from his chest. It broke Hanji and Erwin’s hearts to see their strong friend like this but they knew it would take Levi quite some time to get over Eren’s death. They were each other’s anchors in a time of need and they helped each other in so many ways. Levi controlled Eren’s anger and Eren helped Levi overcome his fears of social interaction and leaving the house- Erwin and Hanji were eternally grateful to Eren.

“What’s the first thing that comes to your mind when you think about him, Levi?” Hanji asked softly, her eyes focused on the green ink she was putting into Levi’s skin. She knew that if she would’ve had to make sure one thing was absolutely perfect, it would be Eren’s big, green eyes. It was the first thing you would notice about the young male and it was what Levi would recognize the most.

Levi went quiet for a minute as he thought about it. “I-I miss his laugh.” He choked out and Erwin smiled softly, chuckling a bit as Levi let out a small chuckle as well. Eren’s laugh was infectious and everyone missed hearing that sound every where that brunette went. “God, I miss him so much…”

Levi’s tears returned and Hanji felt her heart brake a bit more. Levi had been running off of empty up till now and she was pushing the car along, just trying to finish this tattoo. Levi’s mind was filled with thoughts of Eren. His smile, his eyes, his attitude, his stubbornness… all of Eren was perfect and Levi had never met someone quite like him before in his life. When Eren died, Erwin and Hanji kept Levi together. They stayed with him for weeks, helping Levi try to cope with the absence of his lover. 

It was truly horrifying how Eren died and Levi couldn’t help but feel as if it was his fault. Eren was supposed to live far longer than Levi. Eren was just 19 years old and Levi was 30. The raven-haired male could remember Eren’s death like it was replaying in his mind as a loop. They had gone out for a late-night drive in Levi’s old mustang. It was Eren’s favourite car and Levi loved to take him out in it whenever the brunette wanted to. Levi should’ve seen the driver. He should’ve noticed the man swerving on the road. He should’ve been able to turn the car and protect Eren. But of course not. He could remember looking over at Eren as they drove through the intersection, his eyes on the male’s happy face and not noticing the headlights from the drunk driver who was speeding through his red light until it was the last second. Levi remembers blacking out and waking up with the car upside down on the road, his head pounding from the whiplash and hitting his head off of the car window which was now shattered on the concrete. Levi’s eyes were out of focus for a while but he remembers reaching out to Eren with his broken arm and touching his blood covered face, not even thinking of the possibility that Eren could be dead. The ambulance arrived soon after and the firemen had to remove both him and Eren from the car. The rest of his memory from that night continues to be foggy but he could remember seeing Eren’s mangled body dangling along with his after the accident and he could remember waking up in the hospital with the news that Eren didn’t make it. Even though it’s been a year now, Levi isn’t near being over Eren’s death and he wouldn’t be for many years to come.

One more hour passes till Hanji is done with the tattoo. She wipes in down and cleans it up a bit before carefully helping Levi stand up from the table. Erwin had been supporting Levi throughout his breakdown and he was helping him limp over to the mirror. When Levi looked down at the tattoo, he let out a gasp and clung to Erwin, his body almost going limp. “H-Ha…Hanji…. O-Oh my G-God…” Levi said almost breathlessly. 

The portrait of Eren was beautiful. Not a single line or colour in the wrong place. It was almost as if Eren was there and Levi was seeing him in real life. His eyes were just as stunning as in the picture and they looked alive- they looked happy. Levi felt another wave of tears wash over him and Hanji walked up to him, giving him a tight hug.

“There, now you can have him with you everywhere you go, short stack.” Hanji smiled softly and she nuzzled her cheek against the top of Levi’s head, messing his hair up a bit. Levi leaned into her hug and he wrapped one arm around her tightly, clinging to her. 

“Thank you, Hanji… Fuck, I can’t thank you enough…” Levi gasped out, nuzzling back against her a bit but never taking his eyes off Eren. Hanji kissed the top of his head sweetly before she pulled away and wrapped his tattoo up with some gauze and medical tape after taking a picture, covering the tattoo so it heals properly. Erwin helped him into a pair of shorts he brought for Levi as Hanji cleaned up her station and Levi left a small bundle of cash for Hanji to pay her for the tattoo.

“Now remember, no removing that bandage for 24-hours and moisturize it at least three times a day for two weeks.” She reminded Levi and he sniffled a bit but rolled his eyes again, the sassy version of Levi slowly coming back to them. 

“I’ll make sure to help Eren heal...” Levi said softly as he left the store with Erwin. Hanji sighed softly, leaning against the desk of the parlor and she smiled a bit. This was exactly the kind of closure Levi needed. He needed that responsibility for Eren. He needed that green-eyed tattoo.

**Author's Note:**

> Please leave a comment or a kudo! I'd love to hear what you have to say about my one-shot! Also, for those of you who have read my previous stories- I have time to write again so maybe I'll be able to update them!!! ;)


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